Sickness
by Beautiful Secrets
Summary: Lily leaves her home and job in Detroit, and rents half the apt. of Dr. James Wilson, who's best friend accuses her of being an addict 2 painkillers. Will Wilson delve into her addiction to discover the truth behind her pain? rr, please!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

_Pushing her blonde hair off her forehead, the young girl moved to her bedroom window to see outside. The sun shone down through the thin clouds, warming up the people outside but not warming up the ground enough to melt the snow. Smiling as a car pulled in her driveway, she turned and headed downstairs, pulling on her coat and scarf. _

"_Lily! Your gloves!" Spinning, she grabbed them off the table, and grinned. _

"_Okay, sir! I'll be back in a few hours," she called, and hurried out the door, moving quickly to her drive and climbing into the backseat of the car. The brunette boy in front of her turned around, and grinned._

"_You ready to go, Lily?" She giggled._

"_No, of course not, I'm just sitting here to think. Of course I am, Jimmy, let's go." He grinned, and reached over, pushing on her shoulder, as the car backed from the driveway and they headed off down the road. _

"_Smartass," he joked, laughing as they drove. _

"_So what movie are we going to see?" she asked, grinning. Jimmy tugged a piece of paper from his pocket, handing it back to her._

"_The one we wanted to see. Breakfast Club," he replied, smiling back at her. Giggling, Lily clapped her hands. _

"_Yay!" she exclaimed, clapping and laughing. Jimmy gave a huge smile as they drove to the theater._

_Lily climbed out of the car, but looked back in as Jimmy rolled down his window. _

"_Would you like to come in, Jimmy? Um…maybe for some cocoa?" she asked, rubbing her hands together although her gloves were keeping them warm. He looked over his shoulder at his mom, and nodded, climbing from the car._

"_I can call you when I'm ready to come home, mom," he said, smiling at her. When the door closed, she waved and pulled out of the driveway, heading back to her house. Lily smiled, relieved, as she led Jimmy into the house and to the kitchen._

"_F…Father? I brought Jimmy in for some hot cocoa, is that alright?" _

"_I don't care!" he called, from another room of the house, his voice muffled. Lily glanced at Jimmy, and hung up her coat and scarf, slipping her gloves into her pockets. _

"_Alright…thank you…" Forcing a smile at her friend, Lily took him into the kitchen and started making some cocoa, boiling water in the kettle on the stove before taking a seat at the table. Jimmy sat next to her, and for a couple of moments, neither of them said anything. When sound finally did come through, it was only from the kettle, and Lily stood quickly, making two glasses of cocoa before sitting back down._

"_Lily?" Jimmy asked, looking at her._

"_Yeah?" she replied, sipping her cocoa, and not looking up. He sighed, and sipped his._

"_What are you going to do once you graduate?" he asked softly. "Are you going to do what your father wants, or are you going to do what you want?" Lily looked up at her friend, and bit her lip._

"_I…I don't really know, actually…I wouldn't mind-"_

"_Girl?! You gonna bring me some of that, or what?" Lily flinched, and looked at Jimmy with somewhat frightened eyes._

"_I'll…be back…" she said, grabbing up another cup and making more cocoa, hurrying off to give her father the glass, before moving to the kitchen. _

"_Lily, do you want to come over tonight, stay at my house?" he asked, looking up at her. She shook her head quickly._

"_N…No…I can't. He'd kill me." Jimmy stood up, and took her elbow. _

"_Lily, are you going to be alright here?" She gave an uncomfortable chuckle, shrugging._

"_I'm doing good so far, aren't I? Look…maybe you should go…I'll just…see you at school tomorrow?" Jimmy gave her a gentle hug, and kissed her cheek._

"_Call me if you need anything, Lily. I am serious. Alright?" he asked, dialing his mother. Lily nodded._

"_I will…Don't worry." _

Lily looked over from her desk, and out the window as the rain pelted against it. Rubbing her eyes, she heard the bell ring, and looked up at the classroom of expectant students. She stood up, and picked up her marker.

"Morning, guys…"

"Morning, Ms. Evans," responded a few of the students. Smiling at them, she turned to the white board, and started to write.

Sitting at her desk in her apartment that afternoon, Lily started going through some of the New Jersey newspapers. A stack sat on her desk in front of her, while a bunch of crumpled ones lay around her on the floor. Sighing, she finally shoved most of the pile off of her desk, letting them flutter around to the floor. Putting her head in her hands, she found herself looking down into one of the papers, with an Apartment ad in it. Lifting it up, she re-read it to herself, and got a gigantic smile on her face, doing some quick math in her head before grabbing her phone and dialing the number on the paper.

"Sorry, I'm not home. Leave a message, I'll get back to you. Beep!" Chuckling, Lily cleared her throat.

"Um, hello…My name is Lily Evansfield, I'm calling about your advertisement in the newspaper, for renting out half of your apartment? I'm actually currently living in Detroit, but I'm really struggling to find a good enough place in New Jersey to move to, and I saw yours and thought I might call. I'm hoping to move out there in a few weeks, or a couple months, but I can stretch it if I need to…So…Please, call me back. Again, that's Lily Evansfield, and my number here is 893-555-2849. Thank you…" she said, hesitating a second before hanging up. Sighing, she set her phone and the paper down, and rubbed her eyes, leaving it all where it was and heading for the bathroom to shower before she collapsed on her bed.

Lily awoke the following morning to hear her phone ringing, but brushed it off, rolling over and turning off the alarm on her clock and just laying in the near-silence for a few minutes before she climbed out of bed. Rubbing her eyes, she moved out of the bedroom and pushed her finger into the PLAY button on her answering machine.

"**Message One…**Hi, Lily…this is James Wilson, you called about the apartment. I'm honestly desperate to rent off half of this place, and you are the only person to call me, if you can believe it, so if you would like, you can come out and move in anytime. Just, call me to let me know when, because I have a conference at one point this month, and if you're going to come while I'm gone, I will figure out a place to put your key, alright? Thanks, Lily." She laughed, and clapped her hands, moving out of the room with a big grin on her face as she got ready for work. She paused at the end of her bed, and put a hand over her stomach, moving slowly into the bathroom and fumbling with her medicine cabinet, opening a bottle of medicine and popping a couple pills into her mouth, staring into the sink as she waited for the feeling to subside.

A knock sounded at his office door, and he looked up over the rims of his glasses.

"Yes, Dr Cameron?" he asked, tugging his glasses off and placing them on his desk. The brunette girl walked in, setting a red folder on his desk.

"I need a consult…" she said quickly, and he lifted the X-Ray out, holding it up to the light to look at it.

"Well, Cameron, it's a spot on the X-Ray…you know what that is…" he said, looking back at her.

"I know…"

"Then why did you need a consult?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. She sighed, and reached out, handing him another file.

"Because this was his X-Ray from two months ago…" she said. Lifting up the second, he looked back at forth to see that in a two month period, the spot on the X-Ray went from nonexistent a little under the size of a baseball.

"This is the same patient?" he asked, bewildered, as he looked up. She nodded. Standing, he took both folders, and looked at her.

"Is he one of yours or one of House's?" he questioned.

"House." Nodding, he headed down the hall a little ways with Cameron behind him, and opened the door to see Dr. Gregory House at the table with two other young doctors. Tossing the file to the table, Wilson put his hands on his hips.

"Your utterly serious about these X-Rays, that they both come from the same patient _two months apart_?" he questioned. House looked up at him, and raised an eyebrow.

"No, Wilson, I just decided to pack those two random X-Rays together without a clue who either one was just to see if you would notice." Wilson chuckled, and shook his head.

"Two months apart, then, right?" House looked at Wilson, and turned his head to the white board, where in big red letters, it said APRIL FOOL'S DAY.

"Got ya," House said, smirking. Wilson rolled his eyes, and shook his head, waving off his best friend as he moved back to his office to see the light of his cell phone on. Raising an eyebrow, he picked it up and called his voicemail, smiling as he heard Lily Evansfield's voice on the recording.

"Hi, Mr. Wilson…This is Lily again. I just woke up a few minutes ago, otherwise I would have answered your call. Um, if it's alright with you, of course, I would like to be moved in there by the weekend, two weeks from now. I can get my job transferred out there, and the kids will be on a Spring Break by then, so it would be a seamless transition," she said, with a laugh. "So…sometime in the week, two weeks from now? Just…call me back and let me know, I'll be at work in about ten minutes, but I'll be able to answer again tonight, so, just…whenever you get this. Thank you!" He grinned a little, and called her back, pulling out his calendar.

"Hi, Lily, it's James Wilson again…you can call me James, Mr. Wilson just makes me feel old. Two weeks from now sounds good, that week I'll be gone from Thursday till Saturday night sometime, so if you're going to be here during that time, let me know and I'll put the key somewhere you can get it without a hassle," he said. "Talk to you soon." Hanging up, he sat down, and smiled as he jotted down a note in his schedule book that she would be out during that week.

Lily drove into town two weeks later, and looked around for signs that would lead her to the Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. When she finally found it, she grinned and pulled up into a parking space, shutting off and locking up her car as she headed inside, looking around the entrance. Spotting the nurse station, she stepped up to it, and smiled kindly to the nurse behind it.

"Hello, may I help you?" the woman asked.

"Yes…I'm looking for a Doctor Gregory House, is he in?" As the nurse opened her mouth to speak, a lower, sort of rough voice spoke up behind her.

"Not presently, but if you leave a message, he won't get back to you." Lily turned around, and raised an eyebrow at Dr. House.

"So then am I to presume you are the _machine _for Doctor House?" House nodded, and headed for the elevator.

"Who're you, then, if you knew to ask for me?" he questioned, as he pushed the button with his cane.

"Um, I am Lily Evansfield…James Wilson told me to come find you for a key to his apartment?" she said, hoping he hadn't forgotten.

"Ah…so you're the new roommate?" he questioned. Lily chuckled.

"Uh, yeah, that would be me. Do…do you have the key he left me?" she asked hopefully, and House looked at her as he climbed into the elevator, her following. As the door closed, he looked her over, and nodded, not saying anything as the doors reopened on his floor as she followed him to an office that had the words Dr. Gregory House, Diagnostician written on the door. He moved into his office and reached onto his desk, turning and tossing her a Hide-A-Key. She caught it, and opened it, looking in at the key.

"There you go. Enjoy his place while he's gone…"

"Oh, well, um, one…more thing, if you wouldn't mind." House dropped into his chair, and picked up a ball off of his desk, tossing it into the air and catching it as he put his feet up on the desk.

"What?"

"I actually don't know where it is…You see, I came right here from Detroit, and-" House reached out, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, waving his hand at her to stop and jotted down a mini-map, with a red line from the Hospital to Wilson's building.

"Here…apartment 4A," he replied, and she smiled, taking the paper.

"Thank you, Doctor House. Goodbye," she said, waving her hand and walking back out, tugging a pill bottle from her pocket and popping a couple as she headed for the elevator. House raised an eyebrow, watching her, and put his feet on the floor as Dr. Cameron walked in.

"Cameron, I need a patient history," he said, looking at her.

Lily looked around the apartment, and smiled, taking a few of her boxes right back into the room that had a sign with her name on it, and started unpacking in the near-empty room, arranging it up to her liking. When she had finished, she shut off the light, climbed into her bed, and fell asleep quickly.

_Lily sat in the gymnasium, her knees pulled up her to chest as she watched the actors rehearse on stage. Jimmy crossed the stage, letting his lines pass his lips and ring out through the room, well enough for her to hear even when she was hardly listening. She inadvertently smiled at his voice, but never lifted her eyes from the floor, even when there was a **ka-thunka,** and after a second silence, laughter. The director waved his hands._

"_Alright, alright…Jimmy, get up off the stage…We'll call it a day, and meet back tomorrow," he said, smiling. Standing, Jimmy hopped off the stage as he rubbed his shoulder, moving over to Lily and crouching beside her._

"_Hey, Lil…You ready to go?" he asked. She nodded, grasping her bag in her hand, and stood._

"_Yes…I'm ready…" she said, giving him a very soft smile as he picked up his things. Reaching out, Jimmy put an arm around her shoulders, heading out to the car with her as his mum gave them a ride back to her house first, then off to Jimmy's. Waving from the door, Lily walked inside and set her bag down, hanging up her jacket before grasping her bag and going to the steps._

"_You are late!" She froze at the bottom step, eyes wide, for a moment before turning around. _

"_What time is it?" she asked, softly. He walked from the living room, his hands crossed over his chest. _

"_One hour later than it should be when you are walking in that door…"_

"_I…Jimmy had rehearsal, I had to wait with him. I thought I'd told-" He walked over, and thwacked her in the side of the head, making her flinch and close her mouth._

"_Don't talk back, you didn't tell me shit…Get to your room. I'll be up shortly." Lily turned around, and moved up the steps, her bottom lip trembling as she placed her bag against her closet door. Looking out the window opposite the door, she watched the dark sky finally open up, as the rain beat down against her window. She sniffled, and put her hand on the cool glass, closing her eyes and listening as the footsteps ascended the steps. _

_When the footsteps descended the steps, Lily dragged herself into the bathroom, shakily locking the door and pulling open the medicine chest without looking, only to see that the iodine, the hydrogen peroxide, all of it was gone. Sniffling, she looked around, and moved back into the hall, listening to the front door slam. A moment of silence that was followed by the engine of the car turning over caused her to hurry to the phone on the hall table, dialing the first number she could think of. _

"_Hello?" She took a deep breath._

"_Hello, um…is…is Jimmy there?" she asked, trying to hide the fact that she was crying._

"_Just a moment…Jimmy! Phone!" After a few seconds, she heard some shuffling and another voice came on the line._

"_Hello?"_

"_Jimmy? Do you have any peroxide…or iodine?" she asked. Raising his eyebrow, he looked at his mom. _

"_Yeah, Lily…Why?"_

"_Can I…Can you bring it over?" _

"_Right away…" He hung up the phone, talking to his mom as he headed to the bathroom, returning with the peroxide and some cotton balls. "C'mon mom…" She drove him down the few blocks to Lily's house, where he hopped out of the car, and came right inside, to find her sitting on the top of the steps, head in her hands. _

"_Hey, Lil…C'mon," he said, taking her hand and moving her to the bathroom as he helped her out. When she looked at him, though, he jumped at the black eye and the blood across her face. "Jeez, Lily…Why do you stay around here?"_

"_I don't have anywhere else to go, nobody believes me except you," she said, looking up at him. Pouring peroxide onto some cotton balls, he helped clean her up, before taking her hand._

"_You can come say with me."_

"_No I can't…he'll drag me out of there, or the cops will, because you can't legally house me without his permission…He's my guardian, in the legal sense," she said softly, shaking her head. Jimmy set the ball and peroxide on the sink, wrapping his arms around her. _

"_If he does it again, Lily…" She nodded, and hugged him back._

"_I know…Thank you, Jimmy…"_

Lily stood at the stove, watching her eggs cook as she waited for them to be cooked enough to eat. She heard the locks clicking behind her, and turned her head, looking over her shoulder as a tall, handsome brunette walked in with a suitcase hanging off his shoulder. He locked the door and set the bag down on the floor before turning around to see Lily at the stove. He smiled as she flipped off the fire, moving the eggs to her plate. As he hung up his coat, he walked over, sticking out his hand.

"Lily, right?" he asked. She smiled, and wiped her hand on her jeans, sticking it out for him.

"Yeah…uh…I'm Lily. It's nice to meet you, James." James nodded, and lowered his hand.

"I see you found the place alright…was Dr. House a hassle when you went for the key?" Laughing slightly, she shook her head, and plucked a fork from the drying rack.

"No…actually, he pretended to be an answering machine rather than himself. Not too bad, honestly," she replied. "Are you hungry? I can make up something if you want…" she offered, pointing her fork to the stove. He shook his head.

"That's alright, thank you though. I'm just going to put my things away and take a shower," he said, heading back across to the door and picking up his bag. "I take it you've gotten set up in your room…?" he asked, turning to look at her. Lily nodded quickly.

"Yes, I did. It's a nice place here, James. I'm amazed there wasn't anyone else wanting it." He chuckled.

"So was I, but I'm glad to have a roommate finally," he said, smiling at her. "Do you need to use the bathroom?" he called as he opened his bedroom door.

"No, thank you!" she called back, sitting on the couch, and turning the television on, putting it on Lifetime to watch "What Should You Do?"

Within about twenty minutes, James moved into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and moving over to sit in the chair near the couch.

"What's this?" he asked, as she stood at the commercial.

"It's this show, 'What Should You Do?'" she said, glancing over her shoulder as she headed to the kitchen. "They give scenarios of things that can happen – piercing your heart with something sharp, getting stalked, shot, saving lives – and tells you what you _should _do, and what you _shouldn't_ do." James nodded, and chuckled.

"I wonder how accurate they are," he replied, glancing at the TV. She washed her plate, and set it in the drying rack, sitting back on the couch.

"Quite, actually. I was going to be a doctor, but I couldn't deal with the possibility of losing patients, so I took on a different major," she said, chuckling. James looked at her.

"Really? Well, I'm sorry to hear that, but I can understand not wanting to lose patients…I'm an oncologist, so most of my patients do…lose," he said, shaking his head and staying quiet for a minute. She bit her lip.

"Sorry, James…" He flashed a soft smile.

"It's alright. Not your fault," he said truthfully, and Lily smiled over at him as she glanced at the clock, yawning and rubbing her neck.

"Geh…I'm going to head to bed. Will I see you tomorrow?" she asked, turning around from the other side of the couch. "Maybe we can get to know each other." James smiled up at her, and thought.

"I work during the day, but I'll be back here around six, unless House needs me for something," he said with a shrug. Lily smiled.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow evening…Good night, James."

"Night, Lily," he replied, watching her walk to her room. She closed and locked her door, and leaned against it, staring at her bed in semi-shock at who her roommate was. She glanced down, back at the door she was against, and took a deep breath, moving over and dropping on top of her covers, laying still and quiet for at least a half hour before finally drifting off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

House looked at Wilson as he walked in the following afternoon, turned from the nurse's station, heading right for the elevator. Glancing up and seeing him, Wilson handed the file to the nurse and followed behind him.

"House!" House climbed into the elevator, pretending to ignore him, but as the doors started to close, Wilson grabbed them and climbed into the elevator with him, shaking his head.

"Darn. Almost missed you." Wilson glanced up at him, and rolled his eyes as he looked back towards the door.

"Yeah, but see, almost doesn't count…"

"How's your new roommate?" he asked, leaning on his cane and looking at the doors.

"What do you care?" Wilson countered honestly.

"She seemed to enjoy popping pills when she came for her keys," House replied, walking out of the elevator and heading towards his office.

"What are you talking about, House?" He stopped at his office, turning to look at his best friend.

"Was it the popping pills part that you didn't understand? Cause, Jimmy, after being my best friend I thought you would understand at least that by now," House said, shrugging and walking into his office.

"What kind of pills, House?" he asked, exasperated.

"Don't know, but I'm guessing painkillers of some form," he said, shrugging as he set his cane down and sat on his chair.

"Why don't you come right out and say you want me to find out?" Wilson questioned, hands on his hips.

"Its much more fun to watch you try and figure it out yourself," he smirked. Wilson shook his head, groaning, and turned for the door.

"I'm going back to my office, you play your mind games on the others," he said, walking out to the hall and over to his office. House gave a chuckle, and stood, moving off into the next room.

Lily sat on her bedroom floor, kneeling over her humidifier as steam rose up and right into her face. She shook slowly, breathing in the air to calm down. A gentle knock sounded at her door, and she sat back, turning her head.

"Yeah?"

"Lily? Hey, I'm home…" She nodded her head, and turned back to the humidifier.

"Okay!"

"Can I come in?"

"…Alright…" she said, but didn't move. He hesitated, and opened the door, peeking inside at her.

"You okay?" he asked, his hand on his hip. She moved around, so she was facing him, but her face was over the opening.

"Coughing fit…this helps," she said, not looking up. "What's up?"

"Dinner…you hungry?" She shook her head.

"No, not right now…You can have something, though, I can make myself something to eat…" He smiled.

"Well, if you get hungry, you know where everything is." She smiled softly at him, and nodded her head.

"Thanks, James," she replied, taking in another deep breath of the humidifier air. As she closed her eyes for a second, Wilson saw the orange bottle tipped over on her nightstand, but said nothing as he walked out, closing the door behind him. After a second, Lily gasped into the moist air, and fumbled at her cell phone, dialing in the pharmacy number, refilling her prescription before moving to get a glass of water.

Wilson pushed open the door to House's office, and looking in as he leaned back in his chair, tossing the ball into the air and catching it repeatedly.

"Okay, so she's on meds…Who said their painkillers?"

"It just crawled on your skin till you looked, didn't it?" he asked, not looking up.

"No, I just happened to see she was on meds…" House chuckled, and looked at his best friend, tossing the ball at him without hesitation, making Wilson jump as he caught it.

"Why didn't you just ask? You are a doctor – you could be curious," he said. "Although I'm not seeing any lies." Wilson groaned.

"I am _not_ asking my new roommate to tell me what kind of medication she takes – I may be a doctor, but she isn't my patient, I don't have a right to know these things."

"House!" a stern voice sounded from the hall, and House stood up, moving towards the next room.

"Quick! Hide me from Cuddy…" he said, pushing against the door to move into the room.

"House, you are supposed to be in the clinic…" Cuddy said, shoving open his door before he could hide in the room.

"I was telling Wilson how to trick his roommate…"

"If you aren't down there in five minutes, I will start making _you_ pay for their visits," she threatened, turning and storming off. Wilson chuckled.

"Good luck," he said, walking from the room.

_Lily smiled at Jimmy as he walked her up to her front steps. _

"_Well, Lil…I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school, okay?" he asked, smiling. She nodded, and leaned over, hugging him. _

"_Right…and in case I don't see you before the play, break a leg, alright?" she asked chuckling. Jimmy grinned, and patted her back gently. _

"_Thanks, Lil. You be careful…" Lily looked at her best friend for a second, and leaned over, kissing him softly. His eyes went wide, and she pulled back, blushing._

"_S-Sorry, Jimmy…" He hesitated, and smiled softly._

"_It, uh, is okay…" She mentally kicked herself, and he kissed her cheek,_

"_Bye, Jimmy…" she said softly, opening the door and heading inside._

"_Bye…" She closed her door and whacked herself in the forehead, muttering to herself as she headed up the steps to her room, dropping onto her bed and falling asleep quickly. _

_She sat up straight, jostled awake, and looked around in confusion. The world whizzed by out her window…Wait. Lily spun, looking around her, and saw the steering wheel, the road…she was in a car. Lifting her head, she saw her stepfather driving, his eyes glued on the road, and when she glanced behind her, she saw boxes filling the backseat._

"_Where are we going, Father?" she questioned. His hand shot out and he knocked her back against her seat._

"_Shut up and go back to sleep. We're leaving, that simple," he snapped, making her wince and curl up in her seat, making sure her seatbelt was on. Her breathing was soft, but shallow, and she kept her eyes on the road, waiting for him to pull off somewhere – anywhere. _

_Soon they arrived at a diner, where they were going to stop and get something to eat before going on. She excused herself to the restroom, but instead of going all the way to there, she stepped into the small booth for the payphone, knowing he couldn't see her. Frantically, she shoved in change and dialed Jimmy, her hands shaking. It wasn't until then that she realized how late it was – the hands on the clock over the windows ticked to midnight, and she sighed, hating herself but knowing she had to make the call. After a number of rings, a sleep-laced voice answered._

"_Mmmm-hello?" he asked._

"_Who…who is this?" she asked, sniffling._

"_Jimmy…"_

"_It's Lily…" He lifted his head, looking at the clock._

"_Lily? It's late, what's going on?"_

"_I'm not going to be there tomorrow." He rubbed at his eyes._

"_What are you talking about?" Lily explained what she woke up to, the boxes in the backseat. Jimmy's eyes were wide and he was awake as she spoke._

"_You…he…gone?"_

"_Yeah…Jimmy, I'm so sorry…" she whispered, sniffling. "I want to be there, I don't want to be here."_

"_Where are you? We'll come get-"_

"_I don't know…I woke up in the car, I have no idea where we are, or how we got here…I…don't think I'm coming back. Jimmy?" she asked, peeking out to make sure he was still sitting._

"_Yeah, Lil?"_

"_Break a leg tomorrow…I love you, for everything…" she said softly, letting out a quiet sob as she moved and hung up the phone. _

"_Li-Lily? Lily?!" he asked frantically, as the horrid sound of the dial tone filled his ears. She moved into the bathroom, and scrubbed at her face with the water and soap, drying it and waiting a minute before moving back to the booth with her stepfather._

House made his way to the clinic, pushing open the door to Exam Room 1. Her head was in her hands, and her hair was fallen around her hands, so House couldn't see the patient.

"Breathing problems…" he started, staring down at the chart in his hands as he put his cane on the counter. A groan passed her lips, and she sat up, looking at House.

"I know I have breathing problems, Dr House. I have a lot of problems, that's just one of them. I'm not here to hear that, I am here to see if it's gotten better or worse or stayed the same," Lily replied. House looked at her, a little surprised, but shrugged.

"Lift your head, let me check…" Lily cleared her throat, and sat up straighter, poising her head so he could feel her neck, or rather, just below. When he pulled his hand back, she sighed.

"You need to do a scan, don't you?" He nodded.

"Can't tell anything here. We'll get you in for an MRI, if nothing shows, then we'll do something else," he said, leaving it just that vague and walking from the room. She sighed, and got her jacket, climbing from the table and heading out, too. After getting the appointment set with the nurse, she nodded in House's direction and headed off, not even noticing Wilson moving up to him.

"Hey, was that Lily?"

"Yeah…I cut out her tongue and served it in your lunch."

"I haven't had lunch yet, House." House snapped his fingers.

"Damn, I ruined your surprise."

"What was she here for?" he asked.

"A check up. Why else does anyone come to the clinic?" he asked, shrugging and closing the elevator doors before Wilson could get on.


End file.
